That's Another Way Of Putting It
by IncognitoQueen
Summary: She wasn't sure what she was doing here; She didn't want to be here but someone, somehow dragged her into this life and she wasn't sure if she disliked it. "Terror stricken, she walked through the dark, cold night. Maybe it wasn't over but she was sure… This time… is the last" Starts off as usual but eventually strays from the main story line and builds on to a more complex one.
1. First Try

I've decided that this website is lacking some good Pitch Perfect fanfics and as a result of that I have resorted to attempting to write my own. Please favourite, review, follow or whatever if you enjoy it; thanks for reading.

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The too cheerful atmosphere of the college was mocking her; she was sure of that. The people that were here by free will were ridiculing her with their wistful smiles and jaunty laughter. The all too well known, clichéd, appearance of this college was scorching quickly through what was left of her nerves. Her dad was out of his mind, senselessly initiating the demise of her already unstable mind. She was conflicted as to why she was even here, she could have easily refused entirely, but somewhere deep down she still longed for her dad's approval, regardless of the fact that he was the one he left. She couldn't help but inwardly groan at her emotions; Beca, just like any young victim of divorce had somewhat blamed herself, despite the fact that she knew she was not at fault.

She heard the loud, rhythmic noise of a rock song ringing past the rambunctious sounds of people moving in for a new year at Barden University. Swirling around, she noticed a boy, her age. He sang along loudly, voice filled with mirth; and when he noticed her looking at him in contempt he seemed to think it only made sense for him to sing even louder; his serenade didn't go unnoticed by her and she just smirked and nodded somewhat sarcastically. She grabbed her bag out of the taxi as he continued to make noises that, she assumed, were supposed to represent the guitar solo.

Shaking her head mirthlessly, she walked away; the boy's presence at this University just served to prove the fact that she really didn't belong here, she was far too pessimistic, far too sarcastic, and far too different; at this point she wasn't sure where she belonged anymore. Her walk to her dorm room was accompanied by anti-rape advice and the wolf whistles of some moronic college students; they couldn't have gotten in this college purely because of intelligence. She wouldn't say that she was the smartest person in the world, or even this college; however she took pride in being reasonably intelligent without feeling the need to profess her love for all things nerdy.

Her love for all things music related however stemmed from the experiences her family had offered to her at a young age. Since her parents had begun fighting when she was at a young age she began to listen to music, play music, mixing music, craving to get away from her life. Even now she longed to get away. Beca's passion for music was definitely not something found in any common person, she wrote music as an escape from the drab corner of the world she seemed to posses and her collection of CDs, vinyls and various instruments served to prove that.

As she walked in to her room she couldn't help but notice that it didn't seem to be very furnished, she assumed her roommate hadn't arrived yet. Taking that into account she was very shocked when a straight faced Asian girl walked in announcing that she had organised her side, the left, and it shouldn't be touched by her. _Well isn't she just charming._ She began to unpack on the right side when she noticed that the only two doors in the room were for closet space, this led to a fearful question. _Where are the fucking showers?! Oh please don't tell this is some kind of hippy place where we all have to go in a gigantic bath… naked… together… Probably with boys… Well if the boys are hot I won't mind much; but what if they're like, really hairy? Ew…_

"Hey where are the showers in this place?" she questioned her 'friend', slightly scared of knowing the answer. Kimmy Jin slowly turned around. _She's like on of those creepy dolls from horror movies, oh god I knew it, Dad sent her here to watch me. This is getting worse and worse. _She didn't answer however; Kimmy Jin just took turns staring at Beca and the piece of paper with her necessary college information on the book case beside the window. Her brain quickly connected the dots and read through it; slightly, only slightly, disappointed that she wouldn't be sharing a shower with a hot college boy, _not a boy a man, ripped with gorgeous muscles, not too toned of course, who wants to fuck an Arnold Schwarzenegger 2.0 _Not that she was much for one night stands with hot guys, but it couldn't hurt to try, maybe get some experience or something. Wasn't that what college was about.

Her dad entered the room with some nauseously stupid joke about him being the police campus about an hour later. He was always like that, trying far too hard to repair a relationship that was long gone. She loved him, she really did, but something told her that she only loved him because she had too, because he was 'family'. As depressing as that thought was she couldn't deny her lack of love, or any sort of family like relationship with either of her parents. She could easily blame them for her distrusting attitude toward everything and everyone, although she was sure that it was just her, she wasn't the type of person who trusted easily and the things that had previously happened in her life didn't really aid her in fixing her flaw.

"C'mon Rebecca, this'll be a great opportunity. You get to meet new people, make friends" he sounded just a tad too enthusiastic too her.

"Then I'll get older, I'll leave, we'll loose touch, my life will turn shitty because I didn't get to do what I wanted to in the first place. They'll pursue they're dream job while I get left behind and stew in my own pot of self stirred jealousy. I know dad I've thought about it before, you're have no right to assume that I'm just some single thought driven teenage maniac that doesn't know the difference between a dream and the reality. I know what I want and I know how to get it, you're just holding me back" she didn't mean to sound so harsh, but every time she saw her dad she seemed to have this conversation and she yearned for him to stop making her feel so guilty every time someone left the room.

"Well I don't care what you think, you're getting a free education and that's more than some people hope for. You better feel lucky for the opportunity you've been give" His tone was stone cold. _So that's where I get it from huh, I wonder if they'll talk about this in genetics. _His words cut like knives through her, she filled them away for the breakdown she was sure to have somewhere along the line.

"I'm going to the activities fair" a monotone that lacked any sort of emotion froze the air around them, giving Beca a reason to get away from this.

She turned sharply and strode over to the door.

"Where do you think you're going this conversation isn't over Rebecca!" he was very close to shouting and she couldn't help but flinch at the reminiscing her mind seemed to be doing.

"I'm going to the activities fair. It's a great opportunity to meet new people; make friend." Her voice was dripping with bittersweet sarcasm. _Ahh sarcasm, my dear old friend, you seem to have returned to my kingdom… I'm so fucking weird, oh my god._

She walked around studying the booths that were set up by various clubs. _Maybe I should join the male swim team; that sounds like plenty of fun. I can be their water girl… Do they even need water; are they like fish and do they like drink it or is the chlorine a bit too much. Okay red alert there is a girl flopping about on the floor, is that some sort of ritual? Is it a religious thing? Maybe I should go check on her…_

By the time Beca got there the girl was gone so she just looked at the booth, maybe the girl was retarded and the girls at the booth helped her or something.

"Hi!" the overly perky blonde exclaimed "Would you like to join our acapella group?" _Oh she can't be serious, although judging by those clothes she may actually be. Oh crap I haven't said anything for over 5 seconds, quick say something reasonably polite_

"Oh right, yeah this is like a thing now right?" _Nice one; that was really polite wasn't it. Oh well who gives a fuck._

"Yeah" the ginger one replied, she seemed a bit more normal, but god knows with this University. "We don't use instruments we only use our mouths" She seemed quite proud of that.

"But aren't instruments the soul of all things music, they bring life to a piece that the human voice couldn't possibly." She didn't want to seem as eager to discus music as she was but she rarely ever got to talk about music on the technical level that she preferred and it all just came spilling out like vomit.

"We obviously know that, we make the noises instrument would with our mouths" _There she goes again, far too enthusiastic. Maybe it's the water in this University; that crosses the joining the male swim team off my list of things to do._

"That's sort of lame, but if you like it I guess… to each their own" She trailed off not knowing what to say. Instead she was handed a flyer unexpectedly.

"Well if you change your mind…"

Beca interrupted quickly "I don't sing…"

"Just for if you decide that you do. Auditions next week!"

_Well she's very… confident. I don't think she realises that people don't just decide that they can sing. Not that I don't but there is no way in hell I'm joining an acapella group. Maybe I can find a band or something. Yeah, I'll find something…_

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So this is it, I hope it's up to standards. I checked a few times for any grammatical errors but I didn't spot anything. If you do just tell me and I'll fix it as soon as possible. Again if you liked it please follow, favourite or review or all of them


	2. Yeah, I don't really do running

This is actually the first time I've done anything like this and I'm only going by what my English teacher's said about stories which isn't a whole lot. Either way I hope this chapter is better than the last.

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She kicked at the clustered pile of clothes on the floor as muffled moans rang out. The bed squeaks that accompanied said moans disturbed her more than the moaning itself. Apparently the girls next door were both… together, in every single sense of the word. Kimmy Jin had left the room long ago, seemingly more than irked by the noises. Maybe she was asexual or she was _really_ bothered by the sexual acts going on next door. College was more than different to high school, it was on a whole new level when it came to people openly doing and talking about things. _I think that may be the one thing I actually enjoy about this place. Although by principle, there must be some group of conservative imbeciles somewhere around here._

The moans were getting louder and louder and _Oh wow… Screaming really girls, keep it in your pants, it's the middle of the day for the love of god. _She didn't have anyone to go talk to or hang out with and she didn't really mind that usually but at this point she was dying to get out. Her headphones could only drown it out so much; these girls would no doubt be the talk of the school after a performance like that.

Her job at the radio station was supposed to start today, but she had at least another half an hour before she had to leave. Half an hour filled with reminders of the fact that there was some hardcore lesbian sex going on next door and Beca really couldn't handle that, she just couldn't. So she quickly got changed into some skinny jeans, a random band top and a plaid shirt and walked out, her laptop in hand and earphones in her pocket. She would probably just end up sitting at a rustic, mouldy bench. _I'd rather the grass if I'm honest; that thing will probably collapse underneath me. _She quickly changed her mind when the, rather large, girl from yesterday proceeded to sit down, not without a creak or two of course, and consume an unexplainably large burrito. _Interesting._

She couldn't help but be conned into the peaceful illusion the nature around her had developed. The laughter surrounding somehow uplifted her mood to a point where she could perhaps ignore everything instead of seething in jealousy at the fact that these people were here by choice and were enjoying it whilst she was stuck in a motionless boat that swung backwards and forwards purposelessly when she could be soaring over.

The very thought of being entrapped in this world for a whole year of her life made her shake in anger. Her very core pulsated in repulsion. She had to endure it however, she made a promise, and she never went back on promises. Her whole childhood consisted of broken promises and disappointment and she couldn't help but promise to herself that she wouldn't be anything like her ever-disputing parents.

The alarm she had set on her phone buzzed to her disapproval, breaking her out of her life-hating thoughts. She set of to the radio station, trudging through the partially wet grass. The internship at the radio station was literally the only thing she saw that had some allure behind it after the DJ thing turned out to be about deaf jews. Alas she was neither and was stopped from joining the team she strove to be apart of. Can you taste the sarcasm?

The room smelled of vinyl records, CD cases and old posters… her favourite smells were comforting when her college was only able to offer a lonely atmosphere that struggled to retain any cheer. The rustic, worn out colours that surrounded her clearly once belonged to a bright and cheery radio station. Beca walked around slightly confused as to where she was supposed to be and what she was supposed to be doing. She ran her fingers gently through the mixture of cardboard and plastic textures that covered various CDs and Records. _I guess this was a store at some point; it would have been cute if it wasn't so drab. It even has a second floor._

"You been standing there long?" An undoubtedly sexy Australian accent caught her attention. She turned around to notice a very well built older guy. His blonde hair was cut short and his emerald green eyes were piercing and oh so nostalgic. His arms bore black ink that like vines, twirled around his arms; not very complex but still very intriguing and somehow eye-catching against the tanned skin of his arms.

"Umm no I just came in, I think? I'm not sure I was looking around the place and I just…" _The words trickled out of my mouth before_ _I could stop myself; the anxiety of being around an attractive person was always the one to dread most. Speaking of terrible first impressions…_

"Yeah this place always makes me lose track of time, hopefully you too. The things you have to do as a freshman intern are very… repetitive. No offense but aren't there supposed to be two of you or?" he trailed of his voice was much rougher than what she expected it to be because if she was being honest, despite the obvious muscles this guy had he sort of looked like a teddy bear. _It's the eyes, he has very childlike eyes._

A boy her age ran in, his hair sort of in-between short and medium, ridiculously messy, she assumed due to the wind outside but he did sort of look like he just woke up. His light brown eyes had an opaque quality to them which was sort of inexplicable. His jaw was gorgeous _as jaws go anyway and oh my god, look at his lips and arms and… I need to stop._

"Jesse, sorry I'm late. The entrance to this place must be camouflaged or something, I couldn't find it for like 10 minutes" He announced himself and ran his hand through his hair, seemingly frustrated at his inability to find the entrance. He seemed quite anxious, yet his anxiety was not befitting of his exterior. She didn't know why she thought this but something about him screamed confidence.

Her thoughts ran wild as the two boys had a brief conversation about the schedule and how it was pointless to have a door if it didn't allow quick access. And it all seemed very stupid to her as she struggled to retain her image of him. This is why when he regarded her she was startled enough to not be able to speak.

"I know I'm sexy and all but there's no need for you to be literally speechless. I get it." The confident smirk, the glint in his eyes the husky, full voice dragged her into her memories of yesterday.

"Hey I know you"

"No you don't" she snapped

"Yes I do, I sang to you yesterday. Is that why you're so quiet? Were you really that amazed by my voice?" His question seemed rhetorical however when he became silent and stuck to studying her with questioning eyes she became fully aware of the silence that had descended upon them.

"Yeah, that's exactly why. I simply live to be serenaded by rambunctious boys incapable of controlling their emotions" A sarcastic comment accompanied by a jab at his behaviour was all she could manage under his intense gaze.

"Oooh big words there, don't trip over your tongue" he raised his eyebrows challenging her but before she could retort Luke (the station manager/hot blonde guy) interrupted.

"Right enough of that. All sexual tension can be resolved outside of the station. Here however there are a few rules you need to follow. 1 – no sex on the furniture 2 – no freshman in the booth 3 – and please, please don't break anything, it will come out of your pay and some of the stuff here is ridiculously expensive. Now today you'll begin re-arranging and stacking new shipments. The boxes over there are all you'll need for your next few shifts. Okay? Okay. Scatter soldiers" his speech left them both somewhat confused. Especially the sexual tension bit. _I speak like this to everyone though. Oh god, I'm not turning into one of those really sexually frustrated girls that hump anything that moves, am I. _

She hopped onto the desk next to the staircase that led to the second floor in hopes of retrieving her iPod which she knew she would most definitely need for this 4 hour shift.

"You know he did say no sex on the desk, but I guess I could break a rule for someone like you." His suggestive tone did nothing but frustrate her in a way or two.

"I'm sure you and your hand will have a lot of fun, but please don't talk to me about it I might get jealous" Her smirk and raised eyebrows said it all; there was no way he could reply without embarrassing himself.

"Sweetheart, my hand is but a poor replacement for your warmth and beauty." He inched closer to her and leant down so his mouth was right next to her ear "And I'm sure your mouth is much better" His close proximity and innuendos almost left her breathless. Almost.

"I don't know, why don't you ask your brother about it, I'm sure he'll be happy to share" It was feeble attempt at a comeback, a recycled 'I fucked your mum' but she hoped he wouldn't care or notice.

"Dude, my brother's like 6 that's just weird" his voice held barely suppressed laughter in it yet still somehow managed to sound serious.

"How is it that your 6 year old brother can get more girls than you?" Despite her careless tone her voice held some inquiry in it.

"He has these really big eyes, they're like hypnotising I swear" He was being so serious he actually looked sort of scared.

"So it's not a family thing then?" her remark held a hidden insult

"Oh it is, but you see I lost mine in a tragic scissor accident and I'm left with nothing but charm to fend for myself in this ghastly world"

"Did you run with scissors? Because you should know that that's very irresponsible and dangerous"

"Oh I know I've learnt my lesson now. Actually I…" He was interrupted by Luke's shout.

"Guys you can't take a break without doing any actually work" he sounded lightly frustrated but nothing too serious.

"I know I'm sorry I was just warning Beca about running with scissors. She never even suspected the dangers the activity held" He rose his arms and fashioned his face into and expression of pure shock and she couldn't help but laugh at him.

Luke chuckled in amusement and just closed his door in reply. Jesse grabbed a box of CDs and placed them on a cart of sorts so he could begin stacking them. After a couple of silent minutes she spoke.

"Yeah, I don't really do running"

He looked up blankly at her but she could see the amusement in his eyes.

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This is it I guess; I hope it's as good as the first or even better. Again follows, favourites and reviews are very appreciated


	3. Well, that's that

I am a bit off schedule with this chapter but I was reading this book (Will Grayson, Will Grayson) last night and I just had to finish it. This one's going to be in Jesse's point of view; I wasn't planning on doing this but for the sake of character development I need to show how his mind works so yeah, hope you like it.

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Maybe it was her sarcasm, or maybe it was her eyes, the allure however was undeniable. The first time he noticed her, she was just someone out there, now he could see her slowly building up into a whole other person. It was her attitude he thought, carefree and careless, dangerous. There was undeniable danger in her smirk. The kind of danger that brought out every sexual remark and innuendo he could think of at the time out. It was stupid and reckless of him to say things like that out loud, but he couldn't stop himself.

Despite her apparent demeanour of ignorance he felt the need to pester her for the full four hours of their shift. He didn't learn all that much but he couldn't help but think that there was definitely something there and that he would be a fool to not chase after it. He wasn't stupid enough to think that she would immediately begin liking him the next time she saw him, she definitely not that kind of girl and he was a firm believer in being a girl's best friend before boyfriend, regardless of the dangers that kind of thinking harboured.

_Oh I really need to stop getting ahead of myself, those romantic comedies are getting to me and I sure as hell don't seem like her type. Maybe if I get a piercing or a tattoo or something it'll grab her attention._

It was a strange feeling, he wasn't the type of boy that began liking a girl the moment he saw her. He wasn't even sure he liked her all that much as of now. But after spending four hours with her he just thought that he could like her at some point maybe. She was a curious person. Not the kind of curious everybody else at this college seemed to be, it was a different curious. And he was curious as to what kind of curious this curious girl was.

It all sounded so ridiculous that he couldn't help but laugh at his own expense. Instead of focusing on his curious co-worker/fellow CD stacking enthusiast he favoured leaping into his dorm room to the shock of his over enthusiastic roommate, Benji. _The poor kid._

Benji, to his credit spun around calmly and Jesse couldn't help but laugh as he brought his lightsaber(?) up calmly and stated that he did in-fact have protection against flying monkeys.

"Oh yes I forgot that all flying monkeys are vulnerable to gigantic, light-up condoms." He said this with his shit-eating grin full on.

Benji, of course, looked mortified as he spluttered in his defence and embarrassment. _Dude needs to learn the difference between a joke and a serious statement. Maybe I'll put him on my to-do list… Oh wow that sounded much weirder than I wanted it to. _Benji was still trying to comprehend what had just been implied to him and he just couldn't help but slightly freak out at his previously perceived as normal roommate turned incredibly blunt.

"Oh sorry Benji, I had to work with this girl Beca and well if you don't speak like that around her you might as well just sigh in defeat." He picked up another one of Benji's lightsabers and proceeded to wave it about dramatically as if in a duel, fighting for his life. "And I, Jessemious the Great, shall not be defeated" noises mimicking a struggle against his imaginary foe accompanied his imaginary fight.

"It's all right, it's just… well, nobody's likened it to that before and I was shocked at the accuracy of the statement" He forgot how surprisingly mature his roommate was at times. If he was being honest although his roommate was a whole year older than him he couldn't help but regard him as a younger, more vulnerable sibling. Two days in and their relationship had already developed far more than he was expecting it to have. _I guess that's what happens when you live with someone, regardless of the time spent together._

It was only two in the afternoon and he already felt like he could go to bed and sleep through the rest of the day. The energy boost he experienced when he met Beca had taken a toll on his body the minute he left the radio station. He thanked god classes didn't actually start until Monday and he had today and the weekend to temporarily die in compensation for the nights he was sure to stay up for a paper or a project. His older brother had warned him to sleep whenever he could and that he would regret it if he didn't.

This feeling had begun to build up inside him for the last few weeks of summer. Some sort of dread mixed with cynical excitement; perhaps he was a masochist. _It's only logical… _Regardless of what it was the minute he stepped on college grounds it had amplified about two million times. He supposed he'd get use to it eventually but right now he was so scared he wasn't sure if he could even go through with trying to be a college student. The thought of failure was paralyzing him with fear at times.

Despite his fatigue he couldn't fall asleep and instead settled for watching a cartoon, strumming a guitar mindlessly as he watched it, a humourless expression on his face. _I really do feel sorry for this generation. They don't get to see all the classics; pokemon, power rangers that one with the dinosaurs. Hindered from seeing what they should honestly be shown to all children within the future generations. I think that'll be my first order of business when I become president. _His idiotic thoughts led to a small smile gradually being built up on his face in nostalgia.

Eventually he was brought out of his musings by a loud, _muffled, _groan of frustration. He looked at the box that was seemingly pierced with various swords and couldn't help but be slightly frightened at his friend's expense. _Well at least it looks real. Maybe he'll learn how to get out of it without the need of my help soon. Dangerous hobby though. _Speaking of hobbies he wasn't even sure of what the boy's dreams were or even what he was studying. He promised himself that he'd ask the boy about himself just as the boy asked about him. But as of now his mission was to save his trusty companion from his entrapped demise.

By the time he found the key and managed to pull Benji out it was about eleven pm and figured he'd have to go to bed soon. He had signed up for three shifts in a row at the radio station right before classes started on Monday. He couldn't think of why he would do that but something told him it was affiliated with the feeling that had plagued him for the last few days.

He grabbed his toiletries and did his best to ignore the feeling as he walked to the bathroom. Jesse was sort of dreading the whole shower situation; his whole life he had his own bathroom two feet away from his bed and now he had to walk five minutes half naked to a bathroom that was shared with about 200 boys. Not that he was particularly insecure about his body he just didn't like the whole walking around half naked thing most boys seemed to enjoy greatly. It had been a very hot day in Georgia, as most were apparently; the radio station's only 'air conditioning' was a small fan. Taking that into account the mildly warm droplets of water that cascaded down his skin were blissful to say the least.

(Beca's POV)

It was rather late when she walked into the showers; she wasn't expecting anyone there so she began to sing softly along to the song she'd last used in a mix. It was very mindless as she strolled in to the actual shower booth paying no attention to anything but the warm water droplets cascading down her body as she ran her hands through her wet hair.

Needles to say she was scared out of her wits when a girl decided to join her in the shower, and she couldn't help but think that she would've loved to have her rape whistle right about now.

"What the fuck are you doing? You know most people prefer taking showers alone and I'm definitely one of them?" her shock was much louder than she expected it as it resonated of the surrounding walls.

"So you CAN sing!" the perky ginger from earlier exclaimed in delight, grinning brightly.

"Umm, can you please leave?" She had no idea how to reply to the naked girl in her shower. She had definitely seen it all now and she was definitely ready to leave this place. As much as she told herself she wanted to leave she could already feel it growing on her. She supposed it was Jesse and his over enthusiastic attitude's fault, but she knew that there was something about this place that held charm.

"Not leaving until you sing that song for me" she stood there expectantly.

"I'd rather not if I'm being honest" the girl didn't reply she just regarded her silently.

Beca began singing again; quietly sort of wishing she would spontaneously combust in embarrassment but no such release met her needs. She held the ginger under her intense gaze hoping she would scuttle away in fright but was disappointed when the ginger just smiled appreciatively, and proceeded to harmonize. _Bitch, since when is this a duet._ She thought to herself, biting her lip in amusement. She was never serious when she thought things like that the idea behind them just sort of made her laugh at times.

"I guess you know what this means" An evil glint was in the girl's eyes

"No, I don't…"

"Chloe, My name's Chloe"

"Right." _I didn't really want to know that but okay_

"You are auditioning to be a Barden Bella on Monday. Three pm don't be late" Her tone was rather commanding and she couldn't help but be scared.

"I don't really want to…" Beca argued meekly; there was no way in hell she was going to join a group like that.

"Oh honey, everybody wants to be a Barden Bella" Chloe left without waiting for a reply.

_Oh shit, now I'm screwed. She'll probably end up chasing me down, stripping me and forcing me to sing again. Maybe if I bury myself and hide whilst still being alive for the next few days I won't have to go._

She sighed in exasperation as she walked out of the shower in just a towel, ready to go to bed and sleep for the rest of her life. Although she supposed that was the same as dying. She was rather surprised when she hit a sturdy, _wet, _chest and looked up to see him.

"Hey Beca"

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Okay this is it for today. I personally struggled through it and I genuinely hope it wasn't all that obvious. Again follow, favourite, review. Thanks for reading


	4. Cold Hands, Warm Heart

I've decided that for this story I'm going to portray certain characters a bit differently just so it's a bit different for you guys and I thought that I should make it apparent straight away so you're not confused about anything that happens later on.

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"Hey Luke, what are you doing here" Now Luke wasn't exactly her type but right now as he stood before her, eyelashes dripping with water, body, no forget 'body' his abs were as if sculpted by the water that dripped down them this very moment. He clearly worked out a lot, maybe too much, it sort of suited him. Before he looked like a teddy bear and now well… _more like a male underwear model. Hellooo_

"Umm same as you? I think…" _Oh so you just got ambushed by a crazy ginger in the shower._

"I thought this was the girl's floor" She chose to ignore the fact that she was implying that he was here with a girl and just stared apprehensively.

"Yeah, well the male showers suck, they're sort of gross actually. I just come here late at night so I don't have to bother with the male showers" _You sure about that perv. _He was probably here with a girl but she banished the thought when she didn't notice a girl with him or around and Chloe had left a while ago.

The awkward pause of newly made acquaintances descended upon them unexpectedly like a revolving door that span way too fast. Instead of facing him she stared at the tiles surrounding, focusing on the sound of water dripping to the floor hoping that they would tell her what she was supposed to say.

"I'm gonna go now" The cold air that swept past her gingerly suddenly made her fully aware of the fact that she wasn't wearing any makeup and she was clad in only a towel.

"Umm yeah okay, see you tomorrow" He waved awkwardly trying to balance his shower things while still holding on to his towel.

She walked down the hallway fast, her flip flops making that wet squishing noise that she's always hated. The cold of the night made her skin tingle as her wet hair stuck to the back of her neck. As soon as her dorm room was in sight she scrambled for her keys, eager to get in as soon as possible. Beca wasn't disappointed when the warmth of the room hit her; she was about to reach for her hair dryer when she noticed that Kimmy Jin was already deeply asleep. _Fuck, now I have to towel dry that takes like hours. _Okay she may have been slightly exaggerating but the time she was about to spend towel drying her hair could've easily been spent getting her much needed sleep and she would much rather sleep. Getting to the showers had taken far too long for her liking and she hoped that next year she'd receive a room closer to them and hopefully further away from Kimmy Jin. _If there even is a next year… I need to get out of this place as soon as possible. Not that it would be so bad staying but I'd much rather go to LA right away. Although let's be serious who would hire an inexperienced eighteen year old, I might as well have a degree while I'm going for it._

Beca was surprised by her quickly changing mind; she was usually much more stubborn but something about the idea of building a life here appealed to her, despite the fact that there was a voice in her head that was telling her that this was a waste of time and that nobody in this intolerant, narrow minded college would like to associate with her kind. They all probably envisioned themselves as doctors and architects with that perfect family in a big white picket fence house playing catch or some shit. While she saw herself writing and producing music for talented people as her dream for the future. As naïve as it sounded she just wished she could do it, and somebody had to right? Why not her?

Of course only the really talented people got that break and she wasn't going to fool herself by saying that there isn't anybody there more talented than her when it came to it. There were plenty of people but she knew where her talents lay and where she could improve; she figured that if she tried hard enough she'd eventually meet the right people that would lead her to the career she'd wanted for most of her life.

Getting out of her disheartening thoughts she hoped in to her bed deciding that tomorrow would be the day she would decorate her bedroom. She'd barely unpacked the essentials so far, sort of hoping her dad would come out of nowhere telling her that she's going to LA; but it had been two days and it was starting to feel weird just having unopened suitcases lying about. Especially when the room wasn't all that big and Kimmy Jin glared at her every time her foot got caught on something. If she was being honest Kimmy Jin constantly tripping over had been her biggest source of entertainment so far. She'd never laughed out loud of course, she was pretty sure she'd have her throat slit open in the middle of the night if she did that.

The insistent sound of the alarm clock ringing did in-fact make her want to rip her ears off. She settled for groaning rather loudly and blindly reaching out to turn it off. In that precise moment she heard a door slam only to realise that Kimmy Jin was most definitely unhappy to be woken up by her alarm clock. _That girl needs to get some._

She thought about genuinely rolling out of bed but when she noticed all the unopened suitcases on the floor she decided against it and instead just grabbed a Red Bull from the mini-fridge her dad had gotten her as a present for beginning college or whatever. She knew she probably shouldn't be having an energy drink at eight in the morning but she had abandoned breakfast a long time ago when she realised that she was late coming in to school every day because of it. It had come to a point where she sort of felt sick if she had food before 10am. Extremely unhealthy as it may have been she couldn't care less.

She got up and dressed in what she could only describe as her 'creative' clothes, which mind you, weren't all that different from her normal ones but the t-shirt she was wearing had some paint on it. The current drabness of the room was indescribable but she came prepared. Her friend Dani had been so excited to hear that Beca was going to college that despite her protests she'd forced her to ask her parents for money so she could buy the things she needed. She wasn't particularly happy but like any girl the prospect of shopping was extremely appealing. Of course she'd rather have spent that $650 on a new keyboard, some CDs maybe a new recording and producing program but alas she'd had to buy storage boxes, shelves, and paint; the minute her friend had found out that she was allowed to paint her dorm room she'd squealed excitedly telling her how jealous she was. Not her favourite moment.

At about 6pm, 10 hours later, she'd finished painting and redecorating and if she was being honest she was so tired she could sleep for a week. However she had to show up for the late shift tonight and that started around seven giving her 40 minutes to clean up. _Why did I sign up for work three days in a row again? Was I suicidal or something?_

She quickly ran to the showers, technically for the second time that day before getting dressed somewhat carelessly, her hair being slightly damp at the moment and proceeded to walk out of the dorm room and to the radio station; she completely forgot about the two ridiculously attractive boys that she worked with.

Beca ran her hand through her hair as she dropped her bag on the table next to the staircase, just like the day before and grabbed a box full of CDs. She really shouldn't have done the decorating thing today. After painting for 2 hours straight her muscles had tensed up beyond what she thought was possible.

"Hey Becs. You don't look like you've been trekking through the desert at all" Jesse sort of laughed at his own comment as he smiled gently at her.

She sort of half glared at him, too tired to do anything else she just answered the question he half asked. "Redecorating; painting's a bitch"

"Wait, I didn't know you could paint your dorms! Aww fuck my brother told me he nearly got kicked out for it." He realised how stupid he sounded when he admitted to being 'tricked' like that.

Beca sort of just ignored it and continued the conversation smoothly. "Yeah well he lied." A short silence followed. "If I have to reach up for the next four hours I think my arms might fall off"

"Well you are rather short…"

"Yeah, that's so not what I meant. I meant I've been painting all day and putting shelves up and then putting things on shelves and just ughhh" She rambled on long enough for Jesse to start laughing at her.

"Tell you what" He spoke, confident that she would agree to his suggestion. "Let's sort all the records into a pile of upper shelves and lower shelves. This way you don't have to reach up constantly and I don't have to bend over all the time. Deal?" He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Funny, I thought you were used to bending over" She sort of grinned at her own witty remark waiting for his response.

"Believe it or not Luke's actually a bottom soooo" She actually laughed at that, now she wasn't exactly humourless but she had a certain sense of humour that people rarely understood, and if she was being honest she'd have to admit that most of the time it was just unbelievably dry. Fortunately, or unfortunately Jesse seemed to posses a similar sense and his comments had sent her into small fits of laughter far more times than she could count.

"Really he was a top last night. Maybe you're too dominant and you're not allowing him to fulfil his needs. Are you aware of that possibility" Her own comment sent him into a stupor and as he stood there motionless with her back to her he was genuinely considering the fact that the comment she just made may have had a grain of truth to it.

He banished that though and just turned around grinning. "Huh, I didn't know he swung both ways. Maybe the three of us can christen the desk?" He smiled suggestively.

"I don't think it can handle the weight of all of us, beer belly." She tapped his stomach and walked away startled by the callous muscles that apparently lay beneath. _Holy shit; Holy shit; Holy shit! I can literally feel myself blushing. Abort mission. Abort._

She walked off towards the stacks of CDs and Records on the desk but was frantically trying to suppress her body from showing her embarrassment. Jesse stood there frozen still by the gentle touch of her small hands. _That was unexpected. I think my brain may have just fried._

They stood in silence separating Records into two different piles, lower rows and higher rows.

"You have cold hands" He blurted out. _Oh my god, who even comments on things like that. What the fuck is wrong with me?_

She kind of turned to him eyebrows suddenly scrunched in confusion. "Cold hands, warm heart" she simply stated.

"Yeah that's just an excuse vampires use. Tell me Beca are you here to suck me dry?"

She turned around, mouth slightly open, eyebrows raised in shock. His mind reeled backwards. _Okay, maybe that was a bit blunt… Crap._

Her face steeled into an emotionless expression he recognised from the first time he saw her. "Oh wouldn't you like that" He wasn't sure how to reply, or even if he could, when his mind was racing ahead already with thoughts about Beca that he really shouldn't have been having. _I'm so screwed._

* * *

I'm about a day late with this chapter, but if I posted it yesterday I'm pretty sure if would have been a short crappy chapter so I think waiting another day is sort of worth it. As you can see I've changed the characters just slightly because if I'm honest when I saw the movie something about the way they behaved didn't sit with me, 18 year olds behave differently I think. Maybe it's just the ones I know but if I'm honest I'm definitely not 18 and the things me and my friends talk about probably wouldn't be allowed to be shown on tv. Don't get me started on the things my brother said when he was 18 so yeah, I switched it up a bit I hope you don't mind. Next chapter will be the whole Bella thing and you will see many more obvious changes. Regardless I hope you continue to read the story and again follow, favourite, review if you enjoyed it and even if you didn't I'd definitely appreciate some constructive criticism.


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